Drink lid with straw access

ABSTRACT

A drink lid with a straw access opening is disclosed. The drink lid may define a top panel being larger than a top opening of a drinking cap (e.g., beverage container). Additionally, a side skirt may be formed about an outer periphery of the top panel to hold the drink lid on the drink container even in the presence of slight wind or breeze. Moreover, an upper surface of the top panel may have printed indicia for the purposes of displaying advertising, informational content, etc.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a lid for a drink container having an access opening for a straw wherein exterior surfaces of the lid may have printed indicia (e.g., advertisements, informational content, etc). The lid may be used as a means by which patrons may indicate that they will be back shortly and to protect the content of the drink from contamination.

In a bar, patrons enter and leave the establishment throughout the day. Patrons may sit at a stool or table to enjoy an alcoholic beverage and the company of other people. While the patron is enjoying the alcoholic beverage, the patron may briefly go out to smoke a cigarette or take a restroom break. During a busy period, the patron may leave his or her drink at the bar or table. To indicate that he or she will be back shortly and that the stool or table is still being used, the patron most indicate in some way that he or she will be hack shortly. Otherwise the patron will lose his/her scat or table. Moreover, when the drink is left unattended at due bar or table, strangers may place contaminants in the drink.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for addressing the issues discussed above.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The various embodiments of the lid with access opening discussed herein address the needs discussed above, discussed below and those that are known in the art.

The drink lid disclosed herein may have a top panel that covers the top opening of a drink container. A side skirt may be disposed about the outer periphery of the top panel and hold the top panel in place on the top opening of the drink container even if wind or a slight breeze blows on the lid. The upper surface of the top panel of the lid may have a writable surface and/or informational content printed thereon. The informational content may include but is not limited to advertising, instructions etc. The top panel may additionally have an access opening for a straw. The access opening may be a slit through which the straw may be inserted. Alternatively, the access opening may be a perforated hole which may be broken by pushing the distal end of the straw through the perforated hole. A further alternative of the access opening is an aperture with a punctureable membrane attached thereto.

More particularly, a lid removeably attachable to a cup is disclosed. The lid may comprise a top panel sized and configured to cover an opening of a cup, a straw access formed in the top panel, and a skirt extending downward from the top panel and disposable outside of the cup so that the lid is retained on the cup.

The straw access may be starburst shaped slits in the top panel, a perforated hole, or a hole formed in the top panel and a puncturable membrane attached to a bottom surface of the top panel.

The straw access may be located off center on the top panel. The straw access may be located at a center of the top panel.

The top panel may be circular. The top panel may be fabricated with at least a water resistant fabrication process.

The skirt may be integral with an outer periphery of the top panel and extend downward. The skirt may be pleated. The skirt may have a conical configuration so that the lids may be stacked upon each other during storage, transport and when it is being dispensed to customers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a lid with an access opening;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the first embodiment of the lid shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the first embodiment of the lid shows in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the lid with the access opening;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the second embodiment of the lid shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the second embodiment of the lid shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the lid with the access opening;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the third embodiment of the lid shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the third embodiment of the lid shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 of the lid with the access opening at a different location;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 of the lid with the access opening at a different location; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7 of the lid with the access opening at a different location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, a lid 10 for covering a container 12 to protect its content is shown. The lid 10 may have a straw access 14 formed in a top panel 16 of the lid 10. The lid 10 may have a side skirt 18 extending downwardly from an outer periphery 20 of the top panel 16. Preferably, the lid 10 is placed over an opening of the container 12 with the side skirt 18 disposed around the outside of the upper portion of the opening of the container 12. The side skirt 18 holds the lid 10 in place on the container 12 even if the container 12 is jostled or if a customer walks by lightly blowing wind on the lid 10. Moreover, the straw access 14 may have a variety of configurations as discussed herein and placed at various locations (i.e., center or off-center) on the top panel 16.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the lid 10 a is shown which has a pleated side skirt 18 and a straw access 14 a formed off-center of the top panel 16. The straw access 14 a has a starburst configuration. More particularly, the starburst configuration is formed as bisecting slits 24 perpendicular to each other. Other starburst configurations are also contemplated such as multiple slits 24 intersecting each other. Other configurations of the straw access 14 are also contemplated. By way of example and not limitation, the straw access 14 b may be a perforation 50 formed in the top panel 16 of the lid 10 b, as shown in FIGS. 4-6. To access liquid within the container 12, an end of a straw may be aligned to the perforation 50. The user may push the end of the straw at the center of the perforation 50 to break the perforation 50 and access the liquid within the container 12.

Another embodiment of the straw access 14 c is shown in FIGS. 7-9. In particular, the top panel 16 of the lid 10 may have an aperture 62 formed therethrough. A bottom surface 54 of the top panel 16 may have a punctureable membrane 56 attached (e.g., adhered) to the bottom surface 54 of the top panel 16. When the lid 10 is placed on the container 12, the lid 10 forms a general seal so that contaminants such as dust and dirt do not enter the container 12. If desired, the user may access the liquid within the container 12 with the straw. In particular, the distal end of the straw may be aligned within the aperture 52 and rest on the punctureable membrane 56. The user pushes the distal end of the straw through the aperture 52 thereby puncturing the punctureable membrane 52.

The starburst configured access opening 14 a, perforated access opening 14 b and the access opening 14 c with punctureable membrane 56 are all shown as being offset from a center of the top panel 16. However, it is also contemplated that the starburst access opening 14 a may be disposed at a center of the top panel 16, as shown in FIG. 10. It is also contemplated that the perforated access opening 14 b may be disposed at the center of the top panel 16, as shown in FIG. 11. Moreover, it is also contemplated that the access opening 14 c with punctureable membrane 56 may be disposed at the center of the top panel 16, as shown in FIG. 12.

The lid 10 may be fabricated from a unitary material such as a fibrous material, wood pulp, plastic, an eco-friendly material or combinations thereof. Additionally, it is also contemplated that the lid 10 may be treated so as to be water resistant. The lid 10 may also have printed indicia on the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16 and/or the exterior surface of the side skirt 18. The printed indicia may be advertising information, instructional information, or other types of information. It is also contemplated that a designated area on the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16 may be a writable surface in that the patron or user may utilize a ballpoint pen or a marker to write information (e.g., name, time of return, etc.) on the designated area while the other areas may not be writable due to one or more coatings or treatments for water resistance.

The lid 10 may be utilized in a bar setting. In particular, a patron may order an alcoholic drink. Prior to finishing the drink, the patron may step away from the bar area for one or more reasons (e.g., retreat to a designated smoking area, restroom break, etc.). In the meantime, the patron may cover his or her drink with the lid 10 to indicate that the patron is not finished and will return shortly. Moreover, the lid 10 prevents contaminants from contaminating the liquid within the container 12. Also, the lid 10 adds a layer of security by making it more difficult for others (e.g. strangers and acquaintances) to slip foreign substances in the drink.

To manufacture the lid 10, a roll of paper or a stack of paper sheets may be fed into a lid forming machine. In particular, the lid forming machine will diecut a circular disk and press form the pleated side skirt 18. For the starburst access opening 14 a and the perforated access opening 14 b, the starburst access opening 14 a and the perforation 50 of the perforated access opening 14 b may be formed by the lid forming machine at the same time the roll of paper or the stack of paper sheets are diecut into the circular disk configuration and the pleated side skirt 18 is formed. If the lid 10 is fabricated with the punctureable access opening 14 c, then the roll of paper or the stack of paper sheets may be diecut with an aperture 52 and the punctureable membrane 56 adhered to the surface of the roll of paper or stack of paper sheets that will eventually become the bottom surface 54 of the top panel 16 of the lid 10. This process is done prior to feeding the roll of paper or the stack of paper sheets into the lid forming machine.

If printed indicia is to be printed on the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16, then the printed indicia may be printed on the surface of the roll of paper or stack of paper sheets to form the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16. This printing process may be done prior to the fabrication of the access opening 14 a, b, c but before the water resistant treatment process, if any. Alternatively, the roll of paper or the stack of paper sheets may be pretreated so as to be water resistant. Moreover, it is contemplated that only the bottom surface of the lid 10 may be water resistant.

The printed indicia on the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16 may be formed by the offset printing, gravure printing, screen printing, ink jet printing, laser printing and other printing methods known in the art or developed in the future. The printed indicia may be formed on the upper surface 26 of the top panel 16 prior to die cutting and forming the lid 10. Alternatively, it is also contemplated that printed indicia may be formed thereon after forming the side skirt 18.

The side skirt 18 shown in the drawings is shown as being pleated. It is contemplated the side skirt 18 may have circular creases thereabout so that the side skirt can be folded at the creases and fit over larger openings of a drink cup. In this manner, the side skirt 18 is expandable and fits a larger number of drink containers.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of forming the lid 10. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments. 

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A removable lid for loosely covering a drink container, comprising: a top panel sized and configured to cover an opening of a drink container; and a skirt extending downward from the top panel and disposable outside of the drink container so that the lid is retained on the drink container, wherein the skirt includes circular creases thereabout so that the skirt can be folded at the creases to accommodate different sized drink containers.
 13. The removable lid of claim 1, further comprising straw access formed in the top panel.
 14. The removable lid of claim 1, wherein the top panel is water resistant.
 15. The removable lid of claim 1, wherein the skirt is pleated.
 16. The removable lid of claim 1, wherein the skirt has a conical configuration so that the lids are stackable upon each other during storage, transport, and when it is being dispensed to customers.
 17. The removable lid of claim 1, wherein the top panel contains printed indicia.
 18. The removable lid of claim 17, wherein the printed indicia comprises advertising information.
 19. The removable lid of claim 17, wherein the printed indicia comprises instructional information.
 20. The removable lid of claim 1, wherein the top panel has a designated writable surface. 